Counterparts
by The Threat
Summary: This story will continue the storyline I created with 'Seeing is Believing' and 'Nemesis'.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: though "Heroes" is created by Tim Kring, most characters used here are mine. Plus this story takes place sometime before the events of the first episode.

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Prison of Neufchateau, Belgium, two weeks later:

A blond guy around his twenties walked inside the building. He went through a lot of corridors, talked to lots of people, whom all spoke an entirely different language than he did. Dispite these communication problems, he managed to find the guy he was looking for. He sat inside a room, where he waited for the prisoner to be escorted into that same room. This guy, who was black-haired and about the same age, was put at the table opposite the blond guy. The guard, who had escorted the prisoner, stayed still.

"So you're that Jonas I heard so much about." the blonde guy started.

The prisoner, or Jonas, looked up in surprise about the blonde guy's accent: "A Dutchman? I don't believe this!"

The Dutchman looked at the guard. The expression on his face had changed only slightly, but enough to suggest that he has no idea about what Jonas had just said. Bearing this in mind, the Dutchman continued: "I need your help!"

"Sure you do!" Jonas laughed, "You really need to do something about that stupid accent of yours!"

"Hey! I show respect for you Flemish people." the Dutchman said furiously, "You'd better do the same for me!"

"Why should I?" Jonas asked.

"Because I can get you out of here!" he replied.

Jonas stopped laughing when he heard that, after which he asked: "Why do you want to help me?"

"Because I know you didn't kill Aline!" the Dutchman answered.

"Who?" Jonas asked.

"See!?" the Dutchman reasoned, "You don't even know her name! Why would you murder her?"

"Oh! You mean that blonde at the hospital?" Jonas suddenly knew who he was talking about.

"She was a nice, and a smart girl." the Dutchman sounded as if he was mourning.

"Not that smart if she hung out with a halfwit!" Jonas laughed.

"You mean Olivier?" the Dutchman waited for Jonas to nod, "I don't know what she saw in him either. Last time I met him, I tried to show him a stripper website, but he didn't want to take it! He seemed to eager to get out in a hurry! I should have known back then he was no good."

"I allready know that he never was quite normal." Jonas interrupted, "But why do you think I didn't kill that girl?"

"Because he had put her into a coma!" the Dutchman replied, "And you just happened to have been in the room when the coma killed her. You're just..."

"And you come to me, because...?" Jonas interrupted.

"Because I know that you want to get back at him too!" the Dutchman replied.

"How do you think so?" Jonas asked.

"You lust have known her as well, or else you wouldn't have visited her." the Dutchman reasoned, "I'm sure you're just as devastated about her death as I am!"

Deciding to let him believe as much, Jonas said: "Indeed I am."

"So I know that you will help me avange her death!" the Dutchman finally stated.

"Were you in love with her?!" Jonas asked.

"I liked her a lot, yes!" the Dutchman sounded a little more angry, since Jonas asked him something that wasn't his bussiness to know, "So you will help me then?"

"I will!" Jonas sounded cheerful, "But I can't do anything while I'm in here."

"Don't worry about that!" the Dutchman assured him, "You'll be out of here before the end of the day!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Scientists agree over the idea, that everything must have a counterpart. As such, there is yes and there is no. There's full and empty. There's an entrance and an exit, there's fire and water, men and women, heroes and villains, life and death, right and wrong, good and evil. If one of the two does not exist, the other can't exist either.**

Missoula, Montana, U.S.A.

A young woman was walking out of a store, accompanied by a younger guy. To the town, the woman is called Samantha, and the guy is her cousin. But only these two knew better.

"I finally got something about you." she whispered to him, upon which he looked at her in surprise, "It looks like that man with horn-rimmed glasses has put out a warrant over you. You're being blamed for attacking some rock-singes."

The guy obviously had no idea what she was on about, so she explained, "I know. He'd do anything to find us. Luckily, he hasn't found anything to think that you're here yet. And that's for both of our..."

She had looked away for five seconds while spoke, but when she looked back, he had disappeared from view. She looked behind her, and saw him standing at a kiosk, staring his eyes out at him. She called at him: "Oliver!"

Either he ignored her, or he didn't hear her. Whichever the case, Oliver had his eyes fixed on two things. For one, there was a newspaper article about a D.L. Hawkins. What it was about, he didn't know, he only even knew it was about a guy named Hawkins because that's what was written underneath the picture that went with the article. It was that picture he was fixed upon, for he noticed that this Hawkins had a huge scar on his right arm, that looked a lot like that symbol he had seen on the front cover of the book 'Activating Evolution'. Other than that, he found that same symbol on the upper left corner of a comic book called '9th Wonders'.

"What are you doing?" the woman, who was really called Hana, stood right beside him, "You interested in reading any of these?"

Oliver shook awake. He didn't particularly expect that Hana would suddenly stand here, nearly shouting at him.

"Come on, let's go back... home." Hana only just managed to say.

Oliver sighed, as he followed her.

After they left, somebody else came to the kiosk. It was a ten-year-old kid, who wanted to buy '9th Wonders'. He picked up one issue and showed it to the kiosk's attendant.

"Lucky me!" the kid sounded happy, "I just got the last one!"

"Last one?" the attendant couldn't understand, "I could've sworn I had two more."

He looked for himself. And indeed, there weren't any more left. He decided he must've made a mistake, for if someone would've somehow stolen that other issue, he'd love to know how he pulled it off.


	3. Chapter 3

At the Belgian prison, when the night had fallen, a guard was standng on duty. Though... he'd rather be somewhere else, like in his own bed, sleeping. Dispite himself, he dozed off into a deep slumber, and therefor, he couldn't guard the gate that leads inside the prison. Suddenly, dispite his slumber, his body was quite active, as it allowed the gate to be unlocked and opened, after which an entire group of people had let themselves inside.

Two guards inside spotted the people who got themselves in. One of them turned to them, and spoke to them in French: "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are ov..."

He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, for the people who got in made him, as well as his collegue, scared to death. These people had a different colour of skin, some looked very white while others looked blue, and their eyes seemed hardened and without any reflection. They looked like those dead people you see in George Romero's movies. Both of the guards poinnted their guns at them, but none of the intruders appeared to be intimitated by their performance. Both guards had threatened to shoot, but neither one of them actually shot them. The intruders quickly knocked them unconscious, after which they moved on, taking the guards with them, whom appeared to be in the same kind of sleep walking state as the guard who guarded the entrance.

Jonas had been awake the whole time, allready believing that the Dutchman wouldn't have kept his promise to get him out. There was a time that he could easily get the things he needed to get on the other side of the bars, but in here they wouldn't let him near anything at all. Suddenly, he heard a group of people storming into the corridor. He got out of his bed and towards the door, hoping to hear anything from outside. He heard some keys rattling, after which somebody opened the steal door that kept him locked. The door opened. Jonas looked at who it was that released him. It was one of the guards, who appeared to be sleepwalking. But that wasn't what surprised him the most. He looked at his companions, who all appeared to have died, but for some reason their bodies didn't want to realize it.

"You guys wouldn't be related to that halfwit?" Jonas asked them.

"Is that who I am to you?" a familiar voice called from the crowd, who moved to show who was talking, "A halfwit? And I thought it would help if I help you escape!"

Jonas was surprised to see the Dutchman: "You're doing all this? You're a real freak!"

"What do you call yourself then?" the Dutchman bit back, "You can create things that other people can't!"

"I'm just smarter than everyone else!" Jonas reasoned.

"Well, believe it or not..." the Dutchman said, "... but you can use someone like me!"

"How?" Jonas asked, flatly.

What happened exactly, Jonas didn't know, but somehow he felt quite dizzy. He wobbled from one side to another, which somehow helped him realize something.

"You got something that can help us?" the Dutchman asked.

"It's funny." Jonas began, "Before, don't ask why, but for some reason when I stood over here..."

Jonas moved himself a bit to the right, after which he continued: "... I feel like I'm very far away from my good friend, that halfwit."

Then he moved himself a little more to the left and added: "And when I stand over here, I feel like I'm closer."

"Don't you know anything that can help us against Olivier?" the Dutchman had finally lost his patience.

"I don't know what you've done to me..." Jonas replied, "... but somehow I know exactly where to find him now!"

Judging from the look on the Dutchman's face, he couldn't be more happy to hear this. He turned to one of his dead looking companions and said: "Don't worry, Aline. I'll get that bastard! He'll pay for killing you!"

Jonas looked at who the Dutchman was talking to. That somebody he was talking to looked a lot like that blond girl he had met at the hospital, whose thought he tried to read in order for him to find his 'friend'. Bearing in mind that that particular girl is supposed to be dead by now, he realized that those people around here who look dead, might actually be dead. He has no idea what's happening, but dispite the fact that this Dutchman can raise the dead, he seemed quite normal to him, plus this ability may come in handy to him.


	4. Chapter 4

For the next few days, things didn't go much differently for Oliver and Hana as it had been in the two weeks preceding it. With the idea that she needed him to get back at the man with the horn-rimmed glasses, she decided to give him the same military training she had undergone. He didn't tell her what it is he could do, much like he hasn't told her anything at all, because for a reason she did not know he wouldn't utter one word. From his end, he felt that the training on it's own was quite usefull, given that an old aquaintance of his has sworn to make his life a living hell again. Also, bearing the man with the funny name in mind, he may not be so lucky like the last time he encountered him. Still, he felt that Hana kept pushing him too hard for some things. It even seemed like she wasn't gonna tone her methods down, just because he has lower stamina. Her excuse for pushing him as hard as she did was that she heard of some Haitian guy, who had the ability to somehow keep you from using your powers. She had never met him, nor does she know if this guy is for real, but she wouldn't want to take any chances.

Dispite the fact that only one of them ever spoke, and that one hardly ever spoke of her own past, Hana had figured out a great deal about Oliver. He understands every word she says, and all I.D.'s he has on him states he's American. Yet, whenever he encounters someone, he seemed statled at the way they start talking to him, as if it's unusual for wherever he's from that people just talk to each other for no good reason. Also she has seen how he appeared oblivious to some of the typically American way that some people would eat their meals. The fact that she had recieved an e-mail in a foreign language wasn't just because he knew the language, but because he was from the country it originated from, namely Belgium. She never mentionned to him that she knew as much, for she didn't know how he'd respond. Additionally, he seemed to somehow be able to use her power, but only if he's in direct physical contact with her, and not without at all hurting her. He didn't seem to have any friends to e-mail to, so instead he spend his time, whenever he thought she was asleep, to watch Japanese anime and TV shows. Knowing that the people from the that company she once worked for, spoke Japanese occasionally (either because somebody didn't know any English, or they wanted to be sure they weren't overheard) she had taught herself some Japanese, and in turn taught Oliver some of the basics, only so he'd figure out the rest himself. Unfortunately, she couldn't teach him the Japanese kanji, but for the time being she didn't think it would be needed.

Oliver, in turn, had found out some things about Hana just as well. She didn't always, if at all, talk about her past. She must have some issues when it comes to trusting people. Given his own experiences, he doesn't blame her for feeling that way. Also, she claimed to be of Isreali descent, although her last name 'Gitelman' suggests she must have German roots just as well. For some reason, she seemed to be convinced that this man with "horn-rimmed glasses" had in fact turned her into a person with special abilities, rather than being part of some grand evolutionary scheme. Wether it was one way or the other, he could not guess, but given that she basicly works like a satilite, he doubts that this could be something natural at all. Unfortunately, she was also convinced that that same man had changed him into what he is as well, which he seriously doubted. But for many reasons, he never could tell her otherwise.

One night, Oliver decided to leave Hana alone. He picked up the comic book he had taken from that kiosk. "9th Woders", a comic book series he had never heard of, though there was something familiar about that name. He must have come across that name once at some point in his life. He didn't care. He read the comic, only to find there wasn't much weird about it, save for that symbol on the front cover. What it means, he still hasn't figured out, nor why it keeps pooping up everywhere he went. Only resently, he even found out that Hana has a ring, as well as some earrings, which all bear the same symbol. Oliver sighed, as he kicked back into the chair he was sitting on, still holding the comic with both hands. Suddenly, he noticed something on his right arm. There were a few brown spote on it. Moles, birthmarks, or whatever people call these things. He has such things almost all over his body, but never questionned why. But there was something about those on his right arm which he had never noticed before. He ran to the nearest drawers, where he knew he could find something to write with. He found a ball-point with which he connected the moles on his right arm, almost like playing a game of connecting the dots. Connecting them all in just the right way, he relised that he too has that symbol on his body. If he hadn't allready wondered what the hell is going on, he did just then. Suddenly another feeling came over him. He didn't know what it was, but it somehow felt like there's something closing in on him, but as soon as it was really close it went away again. What was that he had just felt? Could it have something to do with that aeroplane that he saw through the window, flying over Missoula?


	5. Chapter 5

A few miles away from there, the plane landed. It was a cargo plane. Aboard of it was the Dutchman, along with some huge cargo, which was a crate big enough to fill at least one person, perhaps two. It was one crate among many others of the same size, but the Dutchman had somehow marked the one crate he needed. He moved precisely that one away, after customs had checked only one, and thereby assumed the others needed no checking.

Once he and the crate were alone, he opened it, after which the Jonas-in-the-box came out.

He took one deep breath, before saying: "Why did I have to get transported like this?"

"I told you, because you're a wanted criminal." the Dutchman replied.

"I meant why did I have to travel with her!?" Jonas pointed to the bottom of the crate, which was in fact a double bottom, in which Aline's dead body was hidden.

"Because it'd be too conspicuous if I traveled with two crates." the Dutchman replied, "And yes, she had to come along! He needs to see the face of the girl he killed.

In his frustration, Jonas had almost told the Dutchman the truth of what happened when she died, but he managed to restrain himself.

"So now we're in Montana..." the Dutchman began, "... which way do we go now?"

Jonas wobbled his body from one side to another. Forward and backward, left and right, until he knew where to look. That's when he pointed into the right direction: "That way!"

"Can't you be more specific?" the Dutchman asked, annoyed.

"Why won't you do your thing again, so I can be?!" Jonas whined.

The Dutchman was about to lose his patience with this guy, but he did his "thing" anyway. Jonas felt that same sensation as he had done before, and knew exactly where to go: "He's in a small town called... Missouli, or something like that."

"Let's go there then!" the Dutchman couldn't be more pleased.

Jonas seemed to think it through for a moment. Then he suggested: "Why won't you go and find him instead?"

"Hang on!" the Dutchman was surprised, "I thought you wanted to get back at him too?"

"I do!" Jonas replied, "But I don't have all the things I need just yet. Why won't you go and pick him up, beat him up a little if you want to, and then bring him back to me! By then, I'll have all the things ready."

The Dutchman considered it, then made his decision: "All right. But then we'll have to find a place where you can work, and for me to get back to."

"Go ahead then!" Jonas said, as he was about to lie back down in the crate, just as he realized he'd be lying with the dead body again.

Denver, Colorado:

As the Dutchman was still mourning over the death of his dead crush, somebody else is still mourning over the death of her love. She knelt down at his grave. She stared at the name that was written on it, Nicholas Freese, as if that is what she should be looking at if she were to talk to him. Underneath his name, there was a symbol engraved, of which she knew he liked it very much. She tried to smile as she spoke.

"Hiya... handsome." she had some difficulty to talk, "I... the band... they only just realize how much you're needed. They can't even express it enough to the press how... how much they felt like you were just a background person..."

She still tried to suppress tears, but failed. Not that she cared anymore anyway. She blurred out whatever she wanted to say: "I still can't remember what happened back then. Everyone keeps telling me about how some guy with a hood attacked us, tied me up and shot you, but... I do remember that hooded guy, but I can't bring myself to believe that he'd do what they say he did. I even remember him trying to help me..."

A tear slid down from her cheek and fell on the grass, under which Nicholas's body lay. Hoping it will somehow make it's way to him she didn't bother to wipe her tears at all. But she still tried to remain strong, and added: "I'll be performing tonight. You wanna know what I'll look like?"

As to "show" it to him, she relaxed for a moment at first. Then, somehow, her already pale skin turned even paler, almost white. Her lips began to have a deep red hue, while her hair started to show just as deep colors, aside for her already jet black hair. On her right cheek, she bore the same symbol that was engraved on the tombstone. Her fingernails grew slightly longer and started to look as black as her natural hair was.

Once this transformation was complete, she looked at the name on the stone again, smiled as she said: "This is what I looked like the night we first kissed. Remember?"

The tombstone, naturally, remained silent, but to the girl this was a way for him to say to her: "Yes, I remember."

She heard someone shouting for her. She quickly looked around, but didn't see the one calling her. She changed back into her usual looks, after which she looked back at the tombstone and said: "Farewell, Nick."

"Christina!!!" he kept calling for her, but she didn't respond.

"I'm here!" the girl got up as she shouted back to the screaming guy.

"You're performing in five minutes!" the guy reasoned with her, "Look, I know he was your boyfriend, but..."

He kept talking, but the girl, or Christina, had already looked away from him, as she made to leave the graveyard and back to the tour bus.


	6. Chapter 6

Early the next morning, somewhere in Montana on the way to Missoula, there was a coroner working on a recently deceased man. This man in question was too old to be kept alive, so naturally he died. The coroner suddenly got called out of his office, so he left. After five minutes or so, he returned, only to find that the old man on his table had somehow disappeared. But this wasn't what got him spooked. All of the freezers, in which kept there were bodies kept, were open and without a dead body. What just happened? And where did all the bodies go?

In Missoula, Oliver was going through the usual routine, the usual one since he met Hana anyway. He woke up in the morning, had a light breakfast, did some push-ups, had her teach him some combat moves, etc. In the beginning he'd have barely made it to the end of the day, but by then it was like he hadn't done anything else in his life. On his end, he had come to the point when he enjoyed these lessons from her. As for Hana, she first saw him as a burden because he never said a word to her, but she got accustomed to his silence after all. It was a friendship which neither one of them never expected they could have.

Later that day, Hana had left the house, only to return by by twilight with a newspaper.

"You hadn't surfed the net through me last night." she waited all day to say this, much to Oliver's surprise.

"On the net I saw something you might wanna see." she said as she gave him the newspaper.

Oliver obviously didn't understand why she gave him a paper, rather than show him. Hana saw his surprise, but didn't stay to figure what he may be surprised about.

"I'll be in the shower if you need me." she said, after which she turned on her heel and went to the bathroom.

Oliver had no idea what this was about. All he could think of was that she understood he decided to leave her alone and not to exploit her powers any more than he already has. Come to think of it, he shouldn't have exploited it to begin with. It still didn't explain why she gave him the newspaper. He started reading it. President bombs another country, a man is killed in New York, the railroads strike, Lindsay Lohan has a drug problem,... nothing that interests him in the least. Suddenly, he found a page that had the heading: "Bright Darkness' Christina fainted on stage"

Bright Darkness. That's a name Oliver knew only too well. It was a goth rock band he loved listening to. Via Hana, he sometimes watched some of their videos as well. That explained why she wanted him to read this. He read the article, read about how she was once treated for a cancer, which was later called a bluff, but by now it seemed to have returned. There was also a picture of what she looked like without all the make-up. That's when Oliver felt he couldn't breath anymore. He knew this Christina. That is, he had met her before, but he never recognized her because he never saw her without all that goth make-up. She's that girl he tried to help back in Texas, whose boyfriend he had accidentally killed. This latter part was something Hana didn't know, but it was still a weird she had decided to show him this article. Or didn't she know? She had told him before that he's being accused to have attacked some rock-singes. She must have known better than he did whom "they" were talking about. Suddenly, he realized that other than taking this boyfriend's life, he had ruined more lives than he thought he did. Christina probably needs someone to stay by her side when she's treated for her cancer, or even if she can't be treated for it anymore. According to the article, the band had already suffered losses when the band lost it's drummer, who was also the singes boyfriend, to some incident in Texas. In other words, what he did was starting to tear his favorite band apart. He had known many bad times in his life, and listening to them helped him forget his problems. Who knows who else shares this, therefor by tearing them apart he may have taken away the one thing that gives hope to those people who need it most in this society.

"Something wrong?" Hana had only just come back to him.

Oliver hadn't heard her coming. What he read got him deep into thoughts, which got him distracted. He turned his head to look at her. She was only half naked, given that she had a towel wrapped around her body. Hana had noticed Oliver never used her to go to porn sites of any type, she therefor figured she could walk like this around him without him having any pervert thoughts.

"You read about that band then." Hana figured, judging from the fact she could sneak up on him so easily, "It's sickening to see that man's people blame you for doing anything to them, especially since you're a fan of theirs."

There was a look on Oliver's face which she couldn't figure out. There was something about all this in particular which Hana didn't know. Even if Oliver would decide to talk again, there is no way in which he could possibly try to explain what really happened back then. Or at least, that's how he felt. He got out of his chair and went for the door. Once he was out of the house, Hana wondered what went through his mind. If he were any other guy who would talk back if she asked him anything, she'd have walked outside as well, asked him what's wrong. In other words, she didn't know whether she should go after him or not, but since she saw that he merely sat himself on the front porch, she knew he didn't plan on going far away, so she left him with his thoughts, whatever they may be.


	7. Chapter 7

On the porch, Oliver tried to rethink his situation. So far, all he has done is trying to protect the one girl he loved. But once she died, he had no real objective in his life, except to get the guy who killed her. But in the mean time, what he had done to help Aline had it's effects to the rest of the world. He had let his arms rest on his knees, but at this moment, he decided to let his head rest on his arms. That's how he happened to look at his watch and read it's brand: SYLAR. That's when he remembered something. Back in NYC, he met a guy who went by that name. He even remembered he wanted to warn Suresh about him, but circumstances allowed him to forget about doing so. Once he remembered the name Suresh, another thought crossed his mind. His book had that weird symbol on the cover. He still had the newspaper in his hands, so he looked back at the article, where he saw the front cover of Bright Darkness's CD. The nerve, Oliver thought to himself, to exploit their tragedy to promote the CD. But that's not why he looked at the article. The cover had that same symbol, or rather an entire group of those symbols, drawn in such a way it looked a lot like M.C. Esher's drawing, with all the birds that looked like they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He knew he had seen the symbol before, and now he remembered where, for he had that CD back home himself. Looking more carefully at the picture of the singes, he noticed she had drawn that symbol on one of cheeks as well. 'Activating Evolution' is about special people. Oliver has that symbol on his arm, Hana has jewelry which had that symbol as well. Putting all things together, Oliver figured that whoever had that symbol must be somebody special, therefor this band must be full of them as well, as should that guy be who drew '9th Wonders' and that guy Hawkins he had read about. Oliver will get back to those, but right now, so he told himself, he has a score to settle with some people. He has taken the life of someone special to someone, so the best thing he could do was to take away whatever's killing that someone right now, which would be her cancer. Problem was, if Oliver was to take away her cancer it would mean that he has to carry it around himself then. In other words, he might as well grab a gun and shoot himself. He'll figure out what to do with that in due time, for right now he had different things to worry about.

After he had decided on his next objective, he reminded himself of what to do with Hana. She was the closest friend he ever had, so he felt that if he left her he'd give the impression that she didn't treat him well enough. There have been many occasions in which he wanted to talk, but there was something holding him back each time. He could write it down, but that could make things sound much different than they were intended to sound. There was no way for him to go without giving Hana some kind of sign of appreciation. He felt pretty bad about that. It took a while for him to decide how he would leave her behind. Long enough for the night to have fallen, and for Hana to have hit the sack already.

Not knowing what else to do, he left the house. He didn't carry much luggage, so it he could've done as such without waking her up. He walked from the house into town, hoping to find some kind of transport to get him to Colorado. On his way though, he noticed there was something not right about the woods he walked through. He didn't hear any crickets, owls, not even the faintest sound to indicate any living creature to be around. Instead, there was a strong scent. He knew what rotten flesh smelled like, so therefor he assumed that whatever that scent was, it belonged to dead people. This made matters even worse, for who would leave dead bodies here?

"So there you are." a voice said, which sounded weirdly groggy.

"At last." another voice said, which came from another direction.

"Justice will finally prevail." a female voice said, which sounded a lot like a store clerk he knew from downtown.

One by one, people started appearing from behind every tree. Some looked like they were sleep walking while others looked like they were really dead. Oliver had no idea what he was dealing with.

"Surprised, aren't you?" another voice said.

Not only did this particular voice sound familiar, it also spoke plain Dutch. Oliver turned to look at who talked, only to see the Dutchman. So he is somehow able to control sleepwalkers and to bring the dead back to life. But that wasn't what bothered him. What the hell does the Dutchman want with him? Did he take that 'broken record' remark too personal? Or is it something else?


	8. Chapter 8

"As you can see..." the Dutchman started, still speaking Dutch, "I can make sleeping people walk. I can even make the dead ones walk again! You know how? All I have to do is think something, send that thought to their brains, and their bodies do the rest!"

This made sense to Oliver. Hana had told him about that Haitian guy who could, to use scientific terms, decrease brain activity. This Dutchman, obviously, can do the exact opposite.

"What is it?!" the Dutchman called, "Cat caught your tongue? Don't have anything to say anymore?"

Oliver decided to ignore that remark. This didn't stop the Dutchman from talking however: "Don't you even have an apology to make? To her?"

For a second there, Oliver thought the Dutchman was talking about that last time they spoke to each other. Until the Dutchman said "to her" and pointed to some girl who was behind a tree at first. Oliver was taken aback from what that girl was wearing, but his mind got swept when he saw the girl's face. It was Aline! She's alive! Or is she? If the Dutchman can make even dead people think again, he must have taken control over Aline's body too. But why?

"This blows you away, doesn't it." the Dutchman continued, "To see the girl you killed standing right here!"

Oliver looked at the Dutchman surprised. What was he talking about? Oliver didn't kill her.

"You were there that night, when she fell into that coma!" the Dutchman continued, "You got her in the coma that killed her. And because of you, an innocent man got imprisoned. You must be proud of yourself!"

The longer he spoke, the less sense he made. Because of Oliver's facial expressions of surprise, the Dutchman thought he had Oliver cornered, so he continued again: "You thought nobody would figure it out. Well, you were wrong!"

Oliver sighed as he shook his head. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Unfortunately, the Dutchman misinterpreted this gesture as well: "What is it now? You think you're any match for me? You're such an arrogant bastard!"

Oliver didn't understand what made him say that. It didn't matter, for all of the sleeping and dead people there were around started to run to him and attack.

Remembering his training with Hana, he dodged the first attacks, only to strike back at them whenever needed, wherever possible. He didn't care much about which one of the people were already dead or not, they were attacking him so he had every right to defend himself. He did however make sure he didn't do anything to cause the deaths of any of the still breathing ones. At some point, Oliver grabbed a big stick he found. But when he did that, everyone stopped attacking him. Instead, they made way for the Dutchman to come closer, along with Aline's corpse. What is he up to this time?

"Look at her!" he demanded.

Oliver looked at her. Although it was night time, the moon provided enough light for him to see her. Despite of her death, despite that she had already started to waste away, despite that her eyes had started to turn to something that looked like glass,... despite all that, she still looked as beautiful as when she was alive. One thing which bothered him was the fact she was dressed in a typically stripper's outfit. He knew for a fact that the Dutchman was into porn, given that he tried to introduce a Niki Sanders to him once. But why would he dress her up like this? Or rather, why would he be so obsessed?

"She was a nice girl." the Dutchman started, "Always smiling at everybody. Always wanting to make friends with everyone. Always helping everyone else, selflessly."

Oliver knew all that himself. He himself had observed her long enough to know. Plus, since she used her powers to help him before, or was willing to give them up so she could help him, Oliver knew that she was completely selfless. In other words it didn't matter whether the Dutchman said any of this. But why did he?

"She was the type of girl every guy would wish for. And you killed her!" the Dutchman continued, until then failing to notice Oliver's facial expressions, "What? You realize who you killed now?"

That's when the answer came to Oliver. The Dutchman had a crush on Aline. That explained his insanity. It more or less even explained Aline's outfit. It wouldn't even surprise Oliver if the Dutchman had sinked low enough to become a necrophilia. But that would mean that the Dutchman had taken advantage of her. That would mean that he was the real monster of which he was accusing Oliver to be. This gave him a reason to be really angry with him.

"I bet you had..." the Dutchman started, but Oliver didn't let him finish.

He punched the Dutchman in the face. He fell down, holding his nose. When he moved his hand away, he saw something dark in his hands. The moonlight didn't give enough light to show what it was, but the Dutchman just knew it was blood. Even when cornered, he still wouldn't acknowledge what he did, the Dutchman thought to himself. He got angry, as he got up to attack Oliver. That's when the latter had grabbed him by the throat. He kept his arm stretched out, so that every punch that the Dutchman wanted to give him missed. Oliver had learned how to control his powers enough to do the following. He used the Dutchman's powers to send everyone else back home, and at the same to time to let Aline's corpse lie down. The Dutchman resisted, but to no avail. However, once everyone else had done what Oliver had made them do, he looked at Aline again. This got him distracted long enough for the Dutchman to kick him somewhere really painful. Crouching down in agony, Oliver let go of the Dutchman. The latter punched him in the stomach, causing Oliver to fall down to the ground. He had won! He had caught Aline's killer!


	9. Chapter 9

Although what the Dutchman did to him did hurt, they weren't enough to take Oliver down anymore. The Dutchman noticed, but he didn't care. He knelled down as Oliver tried to get up, and said: "I don't know what it is that you just did to me. But I do know that it's pointless for you to get up. You killed Aline, and I'll see to it you'll be punished for it! You wanna know how?"

Oliver looked at the Dutchman. He didn't understand neither why he accused him for murder, nor what good it'll do for him to tell what's gonna happen.

"You know how my powers work?" he continued, "I can send my thoughts to other people, allowing me to think for them, rather than letting them think for themselves."

Like Oliver hadn't figured that out already, but the Dutchman didn't know that, so he continued: "Unfortunately it only works on those who are either asleep, or dead. But with your old friend Jonas, it worked just fine."

Utterly surprised, Oliver looked at the Dutchman. Knowing he had Oliver's full attention, the Dutchman added: "Yes! Jonas is here too. I knew he could somehow help me find you. And when I tried to give his brain a little boost, it worked perfectly fine. He somehow knew exactly where to find you!"

This last bit made Oliver think back about that night, when he felt like there was something really close and suddenly far away again. If Jonas can somehow know where Oliver is, does that mean that Oliver can somehow feel it when Jonas is within close ranch?

"I was surprised about this working that fine myself." the Dutchman said, since he hasn't been interrupted once, "Though, I must admit that Jonas, despite his genius, he looks a little simple minded. Maybe that's why it worked so easily, his mind wasn't strong enough to resist."

The Dutchman couldn't see this, but a somewhat amusing look appeared on Oliver's face. He wasn't at all surprised to hear that Jonas has such a weak mind.

"Now, he keeps saying you're halfwitted, so I'm sure I can control your mind just as well." the Dutchman finally said, "When I give you to Jonas, he'll..."

Oliver didn't let him finish. He grabbed the Dutchman by his throat again. The fact that Jonas kept calling him halfwitted was bad enough, but that this Dutchman felt the need to do the same was too much to bear. In defense, the Dutchman tried to control Oliver's mind as well. It didn't work!

"How..." the Dutchman couldn't believe it, "How's that... why...?"

If his powers only works on people who are asleep, dead, or weak-minded, then it's a mistake to use this power on Oliver now, for he's neither dead or asleep, and most certainly not weak of mind, contrary to what others believe. Again, Oliver used his powers on the Dutchman, but this time he did something he learned from Hana, rather than practiced. He thought of sharing his memories of who Jonas really is, of what really happened between him and Aline. Unfortunately, if he'd give the Dutchman that memory, he wouldn't have the memories himself anymore, and therefor he'd have no idea of what he's fighting for. Hana had used her ability several times to copy and paste things from one computer to another, or simply into her own head. Because he had used her powers several times, although he didn't take them away from her, his body knows how to perform this copy-and-paste too. This is how he used his powers to copy his memory and put it into the Dutchman's head.

Once he had done all that, Oliver had let go of the Dutchman. Still trying to process what had just been put into his head, the Dutchman tried to get up. After the processing was done, he realized his mistake: "I... I... "

He didn't know what to say. The moonlight didn't shine on Oliver's face, therefor he had no idea what look he had on his face. But he could guess it was utter despise, after everything he did, or was about to do. He was about to turn away, but not without taking Aline's corpse with him. Oliver saw how he was trying to pick her up with his mind, so he punched him in the face. The Dutchman still couldn't see Oliver's face, but he saw him shaking his head. Through this, he realized he should leave Aline alone. He got up and left without anything else, including another word.


	10. Chapter 10

Oliver turned to Aline. She lay there, peacefully, completely unaware of what's going on. He moved close to her, knelt down next to her, and tried to figure out what to do next. From the outside she seemed perfectly intact, but inside she may have started to decompose already. Plus, as he has already seen, her eyes have already turned to look like glass rather than organic. Long story short, she's a complete mess. Remembering that he had already took away her wounds and gave it to another girl, he knew he could do the same again. Also, his hand once accidentally merged with a TV's remote control, right before somebody had penetrated it with some kind of knife. After he dismerged himself with it, the remote sustained the damage his hand should have had. If he could somehow use both of these gifts together, he could transfer Aline's decompositions onto a dead object, such as a rock. Question still remained what to do then. He had already accidentally taken away her soul, as Suresh would describe it, but her body somehow stayed alive. So he could give her her soul back, but whatever it was that kept her body alive wasn't there anymore, therefor there wouldn't be any point.

The Dutchman, meanwhile, had returned to Jonas. Whatever it was he was doing, other than fumbling with something that may have been a vacuum cleaner, the Dutchman pushed it out of Jonas's hands.

"Stop what you're doing!" he exclaimed.

"Will you keep it down!" Jonas begged, "People can hear us."

"I don't care!" the Dutchman continued, "We can't go on like this anymore!"

Jonas tried to keep the Dutchman reasonable. He offered him a bottle of water as he said: "Calm down. Have a drink."

The Dutchman smacked the bottle out of Jonas's hands. Some of it's drops got onto his clothes, as well as his skin, but he didn't care. He kept exclaiming: "You're just a coward trying to kill an innocent guy!"

"Like you're doing something else." Jonas stated, "You wanted to kill that halfwit for a crime he didn't..."

"But you didn't even try to stop me!"

"Of course not! I want him dead myself, so why..."

"But why do you want him dead?" the Dutchman interrupted.

"Because he's a halfwit without..."

"Will you stop calling him that!" the Dutchman shouted, "I just came from him! I've seen what he can do!"

"Then you should have looked better." Jonas continued, "How he walks, how he acts,... what else can he..."

"You don't know shit!" the Dutchman interrupted him, "I'm not gonna let you..."

He couldn't say anything else anymore. Somehow, he started to feel too weak to say or do anything. He felt his body turning numb, as he couldn't stand on his own two feet anymore.

"You know what's happening to you?" Jonas laughed, "That water I gave you, it had poison in it. But not just any type of poison! It's the type that could kill you even if you only touched it."

The Dutchman did remember that some of the water had touched his skin. It wasn't much, but enough to make him feel weak.

"Too bad you didn't have enough of it." Jonas remarked, as he put on a glove, picked up the bottle, brought it near the Dutchman's lips and poured it in. Within seconds, the Dutchman was dead.

"Too bad you felt the way you did." Jonas said, expecting that the Dutchman could still hear him, "But that halfwit must just die. There's no way you can say he must not!"

After having said that, he continued working on that vacuum cleaner. Before he continued, he looked at a test tube that was on his table as well. It had some of Aline's dead blood. He didn't know how he could use it yet, but he did know that it may come in handy some day.

Back in Missoula, Hana woke up. She heard a noise, that sounded like someone knocking on the door. She thought she was dreaming, until she heard it again, followed by someone calling her name: "Hana! You're in there?"

In this area, there's only one person who knows her real name, but he doesn't speak. Even if he did, the one calling was a girl.

"Hana, please open up!" the girl kept calling.

If Hana didn't know any better, she'd say that this girl spoke with a foreign accent. This made her all the more suspicious. She got up, looked for her gun, which she checked for bullets first. Then she went down the stairs, towards the front door. She didn't see anybody at first. Suddenly she did notice a shadow of a head through the door window, as if she were hiding the rest of her body behind the wall. Still suspicious, she kept sneaking closer, meanwhile looking for her flashlight. Once she found it, she moved closer to the door. She opened it as quick as she could, ran just as quickly out of the door, shone the light on the girl and pointed her gun. It was a blond girl, dressed like a stripper. What would she be doing here?

The girl had her hands up in the air, more out of reflex than anything else, but she appeared as though she knew Hana, which made the latter only more suspicious.

"Hi." the girl said, "I'm Aline. A friend of Oliver."

This was something Hana doubted, for she didn't think Oliver would make friends with a stripper. The girl appeared to realize as much so she added: "I know he's been staying with you for a long time. I also know that you had a military training, call yourself Samantha to everyone in town, and that you hold a grudge against a man with horn-rimmed glasses. I also know he used your powers every once in a while to surf the net."

That last bit was something that an outsider couldn't possibly know. Hana lowered her gun and her flashlight, as she asked: "What are you doing here?"

"Er..." Aline wanted to answer, but there was something more pressing on her mind first, "Can I come in, please? It's cold out here."

"Dressed like that, I don't blame you." Hana remarked.

"It's a long story." Aline replied, "Got any clothes I can wear?"


	11. Chapter 11

Hana helped Aline get some more suitable clothes. Other than more comfortable underwear, she found a green skirt and a yellow t-shirt with long sleeves. It somehow surprised Aline to see that a tomboy like Hana actually had some feminine clothes. She liked the boots she was forced to wear, so she decided to keep those at least.

Once she was done, she sat in the living room with Hana, telling her everything. She told her that, unlike Hana, she and Oliver were born the way they are, so Oliver has no immediate reason to hold a grudge against the man with horn-rimmed glasses. He has however encountered people who would be more than pleased to hurt him, or even kill him.

Once Aline has told Hana this much, all she could say was: "So... he only stayed here... why?"

"You offered to help him. He thought he could use a military training."

"So all this time I thought he was..." Hana started, but Aline didn't let her finish.

"Don't see it that way! I had... he had lost someone he loved thanks to one of those people. He would have told you all this himself if he wasn't so sad about m... that somebody."

Hana got quiet. Oliver never spoke to her out of grief? She had never thought about that: "So where is he now?"

"He decided he should hide himself for a while." Aline replied, "He... has something to do somewhere."

Hana looked surprised: "He was about to leave me and not let me know?"

"Yes." Aline answered, "He felt very bad about that. You can't picture how many times he wanted to tell you something, but couldn't bring himself to it."

There was a pause. Since Hana wasn't about to say anything, Aline decided to say the following: "But he wants you to know that his passed time here has been... well, he learned a lot from you. He also has two siblings of his own, but they treat him bad. They don't understand him even when they try. He... he wants you to know that you've been the sister he should have had."

This rendered Hana speechless for a moment: "He told you all that?"

Given that she never had any real friends, she didn't think anyone would ever talk like that about her. That's when she realized something else: "Wait a minute! How could he tell you all that, but not be able to talk to me?"

"We have an understanding." Aline replied.

Hana, judging from her facial expressions, still wasn't convinced, so Aline added: "It's complicated to tell you. It's that understanding that got him to... help me know English."

Hana had already seen what Oliver could do. She had but an idea of what that understanding really meant, but she figured she shouldn't ask for any details. Instead, she asked: "Can I see him?"

Aline appeared a little frightened when Hana asked, so she answered: "Too bad, no. I'm sorry."

Hana sighed, but she understood. She got up and said: "Well... you know the way out, so..."

Aline felt a little insulted by Hana, saying something like that rather than goodbye. But she realized that there wasn't much she could do about it, for that's just who Hana is.

As Aline got up and headed to the door, Hana had something else to say: "You know, I can see why he likes you."

Aline turned back: "... Wha... What are you talking about?"

"Oliver." Hana replied, "I can see why he likes you. You prefer colorful clothes, whereas Oliver would rather be wearing dark colors. You're so loosened up, while he's always so tense. You say things which he would only think..."

Aline can't seem to understand: "You're saying things that make him so different from me."

"That's exactly why." Hana answered.

Aline still didn't understand, but she smiled anyway. After that, she left out the front door.


	12. Chapter 12

Jonas, meanwhile, was working overtime. He had already taken a sample of the Dutchman's DNA, but then he had to somehow dispose of his body as well. He had his chance to do some good for Jonas's revenge, but he couldn't do it. No matter, since Jonas will just simply go on as he had planned in the first place. A strange thing which occurred to him, while disposing of the Dutchman, was that he somehow knew that that dead girl from before is alive again, not just a dead body walking around. This means two things to Jonas: for one, it means that the halfwit is indeed a freak, and for another it means that if the need wasn't there before, it is now, in Jonas's opinion, that he must be terminated. The sooner the better, by any means necessary. And with the girl back alive, there may be something he can use to his advantage. Once he realized as much, he couldn't help but feeling that Olivier had just moved himself a few miles away in less than a second. How did he do that?

After she had left Hana's house, Aline had used her powers to transport herself to Denver, Colorado. It was against her principles to use her powers for personal gain, but she did it because there was something Oliver wanted to do. Or as she'd put it, since she knows him by his original name, something Olivier wanted to do. For that, she could make the exception. She got in Denver, at the hospital that the paper's described. One way or another, she made it into the rock-singes's room. She lay on her bed, connected to all the necessary machinery that is used to keep her alive. Aline thought of looking at the singes's charts, but realized that she wouldn't understand what it says even if she wanted to. All she knew for facts were what Olivier had read in the newspaper. That the singes, named Christina, had a cancer which had developed itself to a much bigger size, and was starting to get the best of her. Aline moved closer to the girl. When she was close enough, she stretched out her hand. Suddenly, in the window that allowed people to look inside Christina's room, she saw her own reflection. As if expecting it to be somebody else, she whispered something to her reflexion, in Dutch.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

To anyone else, it looks like she was talking to herself. But in her mind, she knew that when she looked into her own eyes through her reflexion, Olivier is looking back at her. Earlier, Olivier had decided that since he didn't have any life-force to offer Aline, he would merge himself with her body, allowing the soul he had already absorbed from her to control her own body. In the meantime, he would be an entity that lives inside her but doesn't control her. Instead, he'd be providing her with all the powers and knowledge he had gained in the past time. In other words, he's giving up his life so that she could have a life of her own. But still, there was something that bothered Aline about what Olivier had in mind.

"If you want to take it away from her, you'll have the cancer instead. Even if it is suicide, it is still not right to kill someone because of somebody else died."

She could feel a determination from Olivier she hadn't expected to feel. What he was really up to, he somehow managed to conceal from her. He did however assured her that when he'd carry around the cancer, it won't have any immediate effect on her. She was still reluctant, but after a while, since he had gotten here anyway, she decided to do what she came here for. She pressed her hand on Christina's head, then she waited for something to happen.

**One cannot exist without the other, opposites attract,... this is one of the things that will always remain, no matter how much the world changes, whether it be in nature, or whether it be mentally. One thing that is for certain however, is that no matter how many things change, most things will always be the same. And that includes the nature of all living creatures.**

**THE END**


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